We just got pictures of 100 year old Masamoto knives!! I have a few more pictures of the knives, but I think we're going to use those in the Korin knife catalog. I just wanted to give KKF a preview. :)

They look like they were used to death.

Jim

10-03-2012, 09:26 AM

Wow lots of great meals must have been prepared with them. Mari what is written on the handles?

Cutty Sharp

10-03-2012, 12:56 PM

Isn't that cool? Look how thin they are. I've seen knives like that before, apparently used consistently for 20 years if you can believe. I'm curious why the one handle, second from the left, has become hour-glass shaped. I also like how normal they look, with the kanji on the blades same as today, and dark ferrules with lighter wood handles. Classic and elegant.

Korin_Mari

10-03-2012, 02:08 PM

The one on the very right says: Atami's Chef Association - Donated by Mr. Tsukada Ippaku
Second on the right: Japanese Culinary Association's Instructor - Donated by Teacher Hara Isamu (we think)
The one on the left: Akiyama Ichitarou

We can't make out the rest, but I'll ask Mr. Hirano (Masamoto Sohonten president) tomorrow when I see him at the Gohan event. :)

@Cutty Sharp - The knife was just used to that point of handle deformation. Isn't that awesome? I find it amazing how well maintained it is, even if its 100 years old!

Cutty Sharp

10-03-2012, 03:02 PM

@Cutty Sharp - The knife was just used to that point of handle deformation. Isn't that awesome? I find it amazing how well maintained it is, even if its 100 years old!

Absolutely. Must be a sign of being well-made, but also well-cared for.

Dave Martell

10-03-2012, 03:06 PM

Nice

Eamon Burke

10-03-2012, 03:11 PM

wow.

steeley

10-03-2012, 04:39 PM

That is a testament to the maker and chef .
Thank you .

ThEoRy

10-03-2012, 11:30 PM

Isn't that cool? Look how thin they are. I've seen knives like that before, apparently used consistently for 20 years if you can believe. I'm curious why the one handle, second from the left, has become hour-glass shaped. I also like how normal they look, with the kanji on the blades same as today, and dark ferrules with lighter wood handles. Classic and elegant.

The handle is worn down from scrubbing it clean.

Looks like those have been sharpened once or twice.. :D

Cutty Sharp

10-04-2012, 07:37 PM

The handle is worn down from scrubbing it clean. Looks like those have been sharpened once or twice.. :D

Must be, but it's tough to imagine how many times that's been scrubbed and sharpened, up to the point where the owner might have thought, jeez, my knife is starting to look wierd now.

Eamon Burke

10-05-2012, 12:38 AM

At some point, a knife is either owned by someone who doesn't care about it and is wearing it down by oversharpening or just using it no matter what, or a knife is owned by a caring owner who treats it with respect and gratitude and eventually it becomes a sort of "personal record" sort of thing. You get attached to the knife(or just still like how it works) and say "check it out, I'm gonna use up a whole freaking knife".

I think the third from the right looks like candidate #1 for oversharpened. The hourglass handle one looks as well cared for(or better) than the rest, so the handle was just scrubbed a lot more. Either a more fastidious chef, or maybe it was used to cut a lot of stinky fish or something, and required a little more elbow grease at the end of a shift.

Fun to think about. The beauty though is that you can sit and consider the personality and life of the owner of such an object, to the point that it becomes Art. Can't say that for most things in landfills.